cannabisnews.com: Report Linking Teen Smoking To Marijuana Disputed





Report Linking Teen Smoking To Marijuana Disputed
Posted by CN Staff on September 17, 2003 at 09:34:41 PT
By Steve Brown, CNSNews.com Staff Writer
Source: CNSNews.com
A new study concluding that marijuana use among teenagers would be sharply reduced if the teens could first be steered away from cigarettes was criticized Tuesday by a libertarian group for allegedly presenting an unbalanced view of tobacco.The report, compiled by the American Legacy Foundation and the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA), based its findings on a survey of 1,987 teens between 12 and 17 years of age.
It claims 60 percent of repeat marijuana users smoked cigarettes first, teens who smoke are 14 times more likely to try marijuana, six times likelier to be able to buy marijuana in an hour or less, and 18 times likelier to say most of their friends smoke marijuana. And the study asserts that the reduction of teen smoking by half would result in teen marijuana use dropping 16 to 18 percent."This underscores - for parents, teachers, policymakers and anyone else connected with the welfare of American children - the importance of intervening to end cigarette smoking in order to help prevent other drug use," said Cheryl Healton, president and CEO of the American Legacy Foundation.CASA President Joseph Califano, Jr., pointed to President Bush's commitment to reduce illegal drug use by 10 percent over two years and 25 percent over five years."Because of its widespread use, the only way to achieve such reductions is to cut marijuana smoking significantly. This new report shows that attacking teen cigarette smoking is critical to attaining the administration's goal," Califano said.Yet one critic took issue both with the results of the report and its source."I don't believe anything that comes out of the Columbia center," Steven Milloy, adjunct fellow at the Cato Institute, told CNSNews.com. "The American Legacy Foundation? They would say anything. They're never balanced about tobacco use. So I'm skeptical right from the start."Milloy mentioned a CASA study on teen drinking from earlier this year that Milloy said left the organization "embarrassed." The incident, detailed in a special report by the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF), involved a CASA report claiming that half of the alcohol consumed in the country consisted of underage and excessive adult drinking."If you and your significant other share a bottle of wine over dinner, you are an excessive drinker. That's the latest message from CASA," the CCF report stated. "In order to arrive at this overblown conclusion, CASA researchers defined an 'excessive' adult drinker as anyone who consumed more than two drinks per day. CASA made no attempt to account for recent science from Harvard and Tulane showing that two drinks per day can reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes by 30 percent."The CCF report also pointed to an editorial by the Journal of the American Medical Association labeling CASA's standard for excessive drinking as "invented" and noting that it differed from drinking limits used to screen patients for alcohol disorders.While withholding comment about the science involved or the results related to the CASA/American Legacy Foundation's study of marijuana and cigarette use, a spokesperson for America's largest tobacco company agreed with the motive for the study."Philip Morris USA applauds the efforts of organizations including the American Legacy Foundation in their commitment to help prevent youth smoking," Jamie Drogin, Philip Morris spokesperson, told CNSNews.com.Milloy did not dispute the findings of the study, linking cigarette smoking to pot use among teens, but he said the survey broke no new ground and represented "anti-tobacco nonsense.""It certainly wouldn't be news that kids who smoke are bigger risk takers and might be more likely to try marijuana," Milloy said. "But as far as the numbers (in the report), that's probably sensationalism based on the reputation of those two groups. They have no interest in doing anything that's fair and balanced."Milloy said his own experience in college was that not many kids smoked cigarettes, but "everybody" smoked marijuana. The CASA report partially backed that view, conceding that even though the risk of marijuana use was higher among youth who had smoked cigarettes, a third of the teenagers who had tried marijuana had never smoked cigarettes.In related news Tuesday, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, along with the U.S. Department of Transportation and other safe driving organizations, launched the "Steer Clear of Pot" campaign to discourage teens from driving while impaired on marijuana. At a Washington press conference, the groups revealed that approximately one in six high school seniors in the United States admitted driving under the influence of marijuana, according to a recent analysis of "Monitoring the Future" data, and 41 percent of teens surveyed by Students Against Drunk Driving/Liberty Mutual said they were not concerned about driving after using drugs."The Bush administration is committed to the safety of all Americans," Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said. "Teens already have the highest crash risk of any age group, making traffic crashes the leading cause of death for young people age 15-20. Combining drug use with teens' inexperience on the road and risk-taking behavior is a recipe for disaster."Still, Milloy contended that both the CASA report and the White House initiative were just scoring "cheap" political points against teen smoking."Of all the things teens can do - and I have a 12-year-old - if the worst thing she does is smoke cigarettes when she's a teen, that will be a good thing because it's safer than drunk driving, it's safer than adolescent sex, it's safer than drugs," Milloy said. "Compared to those things, it's not such a bad thing. I'm not saying it's a good thing, but of all the problems that face teens, I think that smoking is not that big of a problem."Complete Title: Report Linking Teen Smoking To Marijuana Use DisputedSource: CNSNews.comAuthor:  Steve Brown, CNSNews.com Staff WriterPublished: September 17, 2003Copyright: 1998-2003 Cybercast News ServiceContact: shogenson cnsnews.comWebsite: http://www.cnsnews.com/Related Article & Web Site:The Cato Institutehttp://www.cato.org/Study Links Teen Use of Tobacco and Pothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17314.shtml
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Comment #9 posted by unknown pleasures on September 18, 2003 at 00:33:15 PT
huh?????
Milloy on tabacco: "...it's safer than adolescent sex, it's safer than drugs," Man, it blows my mind how this got printed. Really, wow. The guy might have just as well scrambled up random words and said 'yogurt fresh mosquito', and it would have made more sense than that quote. 
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Comment #8 posted by Dankhank on September 17, 2003 at 15:54:28 PT:
tobac companies
I will never knowingly buy any Cannabis product from a tobacco company, or an alcohol company.
hemp n stuff
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Comment #7 posted by Dan B on September 17, 2003 at 15:03:48 PT
Tobacco harm
"Of all the things teens can do - and I have a 12-year-old - if the worst thing she does is smoke cigarettes when she's a teen, that will be a good thing because it's safer than drunk driving, it's safer than adolescent sex, it's safer than drugs," Milloy said. "Compared to those things, it's not such a bad thing. I'm not saying it's a good thing, but of all the problems that face teens, I think that smoking is not that big of a problem."Of all the ridiculous crap that I have read over the years, this one really takes the cake. Not only does he condone teenage smoking, and not only does he lump all "drugs" conveniently together outside of alcohol and tobacco, but he then asserts that tobacco is the safest of all possible forms of rebellion--even safer than adolescent sex! Give me a break! Has the science that shows the harms of tobacco been compromised? Possibly but, unlike the evidence on cannabis, the overwhelming evidence supports the fact that it is still far more dangerous to smoke tobacco than either adolescent sex or . . . well, take your pick of the "other drugs."On the other hand, I can fully understand why this guy says what he says about his kids smoking tobacco. Because, let's face it, it is a lot safer in this country to smoke tobacco than it is to smoke crack or shoot crank. Hmmm . . . I wonder why that is.Just once, I'd like to see one of those HBO "America Undercover" specials where they go into the homes of tobacco smokers and do an expose of how tobacco use has damaged smokers' lives. You will find a group of people whose physical bodies are dying a bit faster than everyone else's, but who are otherwise fully functioning members of society. Then, they should contrast that picture with people addicted to just about any illegal drug out there (cannabis wouldn't count; it isn't addictive), showing how virtually every aspect of their lives is being ruined: no job, no driver's license, kids taken away, no chance for student financial aid, etc. The resulting commentary would have to conclude that the main difference between the effects of deadly tobacco and the effects of, say methamphetamine, is that one substance is legal and the other is not. It is safer to smoke tobacco because we haven't attached additional penalties to its use. We have concluded that the physical harm it can cause is damage enough (allowingthe fact that the "secondary smoke" lie has resulted in the expulsion of tobacco smokers from most buildings, and allowing the punitive taxes on cigarettes, it is still safer to smoke cigarettes because there are no criminal penalties attached to its use).So, maybe the guy has a point, but it's an underhanded, conniving, disingenuous point.Dan B
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Comment #6 posted by motavation on September 17, 2003 at 13:37:33 PT:
Gateway lol It's a Joke!
Some claim marijuana turns kids to other drugs:( WRONG"It claims 60 percent of repeat marijuana users smoked cigarettes first, teens who smoke are 14 times more likely to try marijuana, six times likelier to be able to buy marijuana in an hour or less, and 18 times likelier to say most of their friends smoke marijuana"The only gateway is the recreational, medical, and religious users all trying to support there needs! It's costly so they must offer to friends or others to cover there cost. If there was more grown, prices would be lower, which would take more crime away from the streets as many support there habits with distribution, crimes, or other ways. Pot is almost worth more then gold! You can't take the demand away, only change the supply:)What kills more? There is your answer to the problems, first things first! Let's make the tobacco companies take our side, if they don't then I guess they can't package our legal marijuana soon!
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Comment #5 posted by Jose Melendez on September 17, 2003 at 13:35:58 PT
It's the Baloney, Stupid.
" . . . deliberate misrepresentation or exaggerated presentation of risk is likely to do more harm than good." - Colin Blakemore- Oxford University professor of physiology, British Association for the Advancement of Science Chairmanhttp://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n1402/a08.html?397see also:http://www.britassoc.org.uk/the-ba/page.asp
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Comment #4 posted by herbdoc215 on September 17, 2003 at 12:02:17 PT
I STILL say anything that slows down teenage
boys driving CAN"T be bad! In some future time I believe all teens will be ENCOURAGED to smoke pot before driving as it has probably saved far more lives than seatbelts. As a kid I drove 1/2 speed when I was high BECAUSE I knew I was high, I NEVER had one accident that was my fault, EVER and I've have drove high just about EVERYDAY since I was 16 which I am over double of now!!! Alcohol kills, cigs kill, speed kills, and cops kill BUT pot ain't never killed anything or anyone..."habeous corpus" come on piggers and facist show'em, let's see your proof cause we saw ours with our own eyes! Peace, Steve Tuck"The Bush administration is committed to the safety of all Americans," Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said. "Teens already have the highest crash risk of any age group, making traffic crashes the leading cause of death for young people age 15-20. Combining drug use with teens' inexperience on the road and risk-taking behavior is a recipe for disaster."
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Comment #3 posted by Jose Melendez on September 17, 2003 at 10:05:40 PT
Milloy Ploy: Disregard Truth.
" . . . of all the problems that face teens, I think that smoking is not that big of a problem."Here's the ANNUAL global death toll so far: Tobacco, nearly 5 million; Cannabis, zero. Just say know. Boycott Hypocrisy.
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Comment #2 posted by WolfgangWylde on September 17, 2003 at 10:03:34 PT
No, no, no,....
...if you're going to have a Gateway Theory, you have to be consistent.But seriously folks, its fun to watch smokers get religion about "gateways" when it's tobacco that's under attack, instead of marijuana.
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Comment #1 posted by byrd on September 17, 2003 at 09:43:44 PT
A government funded study
fudged? By our esteemed government? Naw - say it isn't so.
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